After 20 seasons and three spin-offs of ABC's The Bachelor—not to mention myriad copycats—America's fascination with watching a horde of beautiful women compete for a prince charming has inevitably moved beyond its reality-TV origins. UnREAL, Lifetime's hour-long satirical drama that brilliantly dissects the world of competitive dating with its fictional show Everlasting, takes on the unshakable question: Who are the women who sign up for this? "The idea is that you can be a smart, self-identified feminist and still fall prey to the fantasy that your ultimate value lies in your desirability," says showrunner Marti Noxon, who co-created the series with former Bachelor producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (how's that for "real"?).

The crux of UnREAL, though, lies behind the scenes of the show-within-a-show, in the relationship between the villainous executive producer Quinn, played at a steely, sexy high by Constance Zimmer (Entourage, House of Cards), and her protégée, the troubled, exploitative producer Rachel, brought to life by Shiri Appleby (Girls, Life Unexpected, Roswell). "It's very much a love-hate, manipulating-mentor, mother-daughter relationship," Appleby says. "There are so many facets to who they are and how they behave together. It really felt like there was no avenue off-limits." To wit, the first season involved everything from murder to rampant drug use to date rape—and did we mention it's on Lifetime? "There was that feeling you get when you're so nervous to say yes," says Zimmer of joining the network best known for weepy damsel-in-distress Cinderella stories (an assumption UnREAL will continue to shake up in its second season this summer). "But if everybody followed through on what they said they were going to do, it was going to be magical. And I think we succeeded."